Turnkey Grow Boxes

I hate to admit it, but the tides are turning. In fact, they have turned and there’s no denying it anymore. I remember my first growroom system (circa 1995) was homemade and featured a large Utz pretzel barrel as my hydroponic reservoir. For years afterwards, I still preached the good word of handcrafted systems, using inverted Coca-cola bottles as grow pods and hanging (eek) 100-watt halogens over sprouted bag-seeds of Mexi-mid-grade… we have come so far.

These days, to be honest, there is little reason not to take a long, hard look at some of the prefabricated systems currently available in the market place. With prices manageable enough that after a harvest or two these systems pay for themselves, anyone from college students to home hobbyists can afford small to mid-sized growboxes that come complete with everything a novice gardener would need to produce a little homegrown nugget.

Turnkey systems that are out there today are no longer only for small stash growing. Potent, high-yielding cannabis crops are easily attainable in growboxes that come complete with miniature hydroponic systems, HID lamps and even feature CO2 injector kits and air filtration systems. With better technology and cheaper material costs, more and more manufacturers are finding ways to fit everything a complete grow op would need into smaller packages that make for much better use of space and resources.

Made to fit snuggly into closets or disguised to look like mini-refrigerators, growboxes can be used hydroponically or with soil. Grow chambers can range from 2’ x 2’ to 4’ x 6’ and come in a variety of heights with varying facades. Some systems have completely automated controls for atmosphere, lighting and feeding systems and most can be modified to customer specifications before ordering – or amended by growers themselves after-market. This is good news because with more possibilities comes more opportunity for grows that are well suited for your specific conditions.

Even better is the fact that these small growboxes have literally revolutionized the way small-time growers approach their grow strategy. Resigned to seed-only germinations because of lack of space for mother rooms and nurseries, home growers now have a viable method for growing clone-only strains and utilizing sea-of-green (SOG) systems.

An excellent example of this is the marketing approach used by BC Northern Lights, aptly naming their Mothership growbox for exclusive cultivation of mother plants that can be used to populate entire growrooms with cuttings. Of course, growboxes like the Mothership can be used for complete, 2-phase grow cycles. In fact, most European countries use growboxes for both vegetative and flowering phases where personal use is the primary objective (the Mothership sells by the another name across the pond – the Roommate). Some growboxes are actually double-boxes that use a dividing wall to create two grow chambers. One chamber uses an 18-hour photoperiod for vegging, while the other side runs a 12-12 schedule for budding.

Growboxes compact enough to take up as much space as a bedroom dresser can hold up to 5 mother plants, enough to easily supply 50 to 75 clones. Also, consider these smaller growboxes can act as a “genetics bank” for your favorite strains as you come across them. If you’re keeping four or five moms, there’s no rule that says they must be related. As they say, variety can be the spice of life.

As always, we have some added bonuses to share. Consider now, security. How does a home grower or dormitory resident hide a personal grow op? How might a closet grower conceal their power consumption? These are the questions many first time growers ask before even deciding on how or what to grow.

The answers keep getting easier. Companies like Super Closet make stealthy systems, camouflaged by exteriors that blend in with bedroom or office settings. Closets, storage cabinets and small drawer units disguise grow systems and add another layer of protection to growers’ security. Not to mention many of these units come with commercial locks as a standard feature.

As far as power goes, I tell newbie growers all the time that a 400- or 600-watt bulb is not going to create anywhere near a big enough power spike to raise any eyebrows. Still, the good news is that most new models of growboxes are pretty efficient in their energy use. Because of their limited size there is no room to go crazy adding extra lamps and fans. These growboxes use the minimum required energy and equipment needed for growing marijuana, helping keep suspicious electricity use off the radar.

It is always difficult to recommend a specific growbox as every individual grower’s situation is different. Space and objective are primary guidelines to choosing any type of grow system. Chances are, if you are considering a growbox, space is a constraint. Therefore, the question you must ask is how long-term is your goal? Do you prefer a single chamber grow cab where you can pop a few seeds and be smoking your own in a few months? Or is this more of a scientific endeavor, a hobby with potential? If so, you may want to consider the dual-chamber boxes for cloning and quicker harvests or to learn beginner-breeding techniques.

Strain selection is also an important consideration. If you like sativa strains, you might consider a taller grow closet, but for indicas a squat, dresser cabinet could suit you well.

These answers might be more complex, but also a lot more fun. Remember, don’t stress! Asking yourself these questions should get you excited and pique your interest in cannabis cultivation – never allow it to worry you. With easy to use, store-bought systems, growers can sit back and relax a lot easier than we could when we were building systems with PVC and super glue. No more worrying about whether or not the soda bottles will hold that root ball, or if your hand-crafted reservoir will overflow. These boxes make it easy to handle growing weed and give you more of what it is meant for – relaxation and enjoyment. However, to this day, I still get strangely nostalgic for pretzel

For information on growboxes featured in this article check out bcnorthernlights.com and supercloset.com for complete product lines… and no, we’re not selling out to our corporate sponsors – we’ve used these products ourselves and seen them produce pot for growers around the world.

For more cultivation tips, visit Nico on MySpace at www.myspace.com/marijunagrowing.